Superman to do – waiting for superman

Waiting for Superman
Name
Institution Affiliation
Waiting for Superman
Abstract
‘Waiting for Superman’ is an American documentary directed by Davis Guggenheim and it examines the failing American public education system and calls upon the public to intervene in advocating for change. The film commences with a personality by the name Geoffrey Canada, an educator, and CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone, who retells a story told to him by his mother about Superman and how he did not exist. This realization that no single person with enough muscle was available to save his community deeply disturbed him. In a voice-over, Guggenheim explains how everyone develops faith and believes in schools and how he should handle his dilemma and choose between either public education or private education for his child. The film casts regular families in their quest to identify the best place to take their children to acquire education. In this paper, I will focus on Anthony’s educational journey in comparison to my own. Besides, I will critically examine education and academic life from his perspective.
Body
Anthony is in fifth grade in one of the worst performing school districts in Washington D.C. He never knew his mother and lost his dad to drugs in 2004 making him start acting out in class and cared less how he performed in school and had to repeat second grade despite him being a good student. Eventually, he moves in with his grandparents and with the help of a good teacher, turns his grades around.

After fifth grade, he is bound to go to John Philip Sousa referred to as an academic sinkhole by the Washington Post. His neighborhood is plagued by crime, violence, and drugs. His only way out is SEED Charter School; the only public boarding school in the country producing remarkable results. In SEEDS, nine out of ten students go to college, and Anthony is among the 61plicantswith only 24 open slots.
Social class status encompasses not only income but also educational attainment as well as financial security. This in turn influence quality of life attributes as well as the privileges and opportunities afforded to individuals within the same society. Social, economic class, is relevant to all realms of behavior and social science. 15% of the U.S score variation in the PISA is defined by the difference in social economics (Fuchs & Wößmann, 2008). Compared to other countries like Finland and Japan where only ten percent id due to the same disparities. Anthony, as seen from the film, comes from a neighborhood of crime, violence, and drugs. All this indicates the declining socioeconomic status. Research has shown that children from these families tend to develop academic skills slower than children from higher socioeconomic status families (Morgan et al., 2009). Language, cognitive development, memory among others is poorly developed in the less favored social class. The school system as is the case with Anthony is often under-resourced and therefore affecting negatively affecting the student’s academic progress and outcomes (Aikens & Barbarin, 2008). Research further links the differences in social class to academic achievement in the following ways:
• According to the USA Census Bureau (2014), those people who are found n the topmost revenue quartile are eight times more likely to graduate with a bachelor’s degree by the age of 24 as compared to those from low social classes. Anthony due to the death of his father was forced to repeat grade two hence lagging behind.
• The success rate of students from low-income groups in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines is lower when compared to students from high-income families (Doerschuk et al., 2016).
• Children from low social class enter high school with average literacy skills, five years behind those from high-income students (Reardon et al., 2013)
As far as culture is concerned, Anthony is not particularly inclined to learn as his grandparent points out that his father never really saw the importance of education. Growing up in a society that was mistreated in the past makes it difficult for him to form his destiny which is greatly influenced by his elders. Majority of African American form the underclass such that the nuclear family has split leaving most children with single parents. Most often than not, they fall in the culture of instant gratification which convinces children that studying is a bore and that the chance of making millions as an athlete or a rap star is worth it (Jenkins et al., 2009). The young surely need goals that are more realistic and inspiring teachers which seems a fantasy.
Not so many would argue with the fact that African American speech as the one used by Anthony is different and distinguishable from what is standard or known as mainstream American English (Reardon et al. 2013). The difference is in many ways including pronunciation of words and the formulation of sentences to form meaning or rather the grammatical aspect as well as how language is used in social context. This fact makes it a bit challenging for African American students to learn in school where the mainstream American English is employed. The usage of the language particularly in urban public school settings is widely acknowledged as forming a significant barrier to learning (Jenkins et al., 2009). This emanates, according to research, from the negative attitude that educators have towards the language, lack of structural knowledge about the language and by structural differences in the language itself among other important issues.
My educational circumstance is by far contrary to what Anthony experiences in his quest for quality education as far as socioeconomic status is concerned. It is much harder for him to achieve his highest potential in his current state due to the limited resources and the not so favorable environment.
Apart from social classes; another important factor that is bound to influence a child’s academic development is the teachers involved and the methods they employ in their teaching. The transactional model involves creating situations whereby students interact with learning material to construct knowledge. In this model; knowledge is not received passively but rather’ it is actively built up by students as they connect their past knowledge and experiences with the new information (Santrock, 2004). This method is seen as a student’s ability to use their gained knowledge in solving real-world problems or in creating products valued in one or across cultures. Students are also greatly affected by the quality of their teachers. In the film, we are told about the lemon dance that school principals do from time to time hoping that they land a teacher who is better off than the one they got rid of. Michelle Rhee, the seventh superintendent for Washington D.C. in ten years, in the film is displayed as a new face of pragmatic educational reform. She moves to sign an agreement with the teacher’s union so that tenure can be eliminated (Balfanz & Lardner, 2008). Among the key characteristics of highly effective teachers is the ability to engage students and building a relationship with them, dedication to teaching, patience, kindness and the knowledge of learners. According to Davis Guggenheim’s Waiting for Superman, our future depends on good teachers and that the coddling of bad teachers by their unions which are powerful enables the perpetuation of mediocrity in both teachers and students. The National Education Association, as well as the American Federation of Teachers, are the major villains who are portrayed as their chief aim is to keep teachers employed at the expense of the students.
Anthony after losing his father loses touch with education, but on moving in with his grandparents and finding a great teacher, he is back on track. Tenured teachers tend to be more relaxed and inconsiderate of their actions to students. A disturbing statistic in the film is that of the state of Illinois where one in 57 doctors lose their medical license, and one in 97 lawyers loses their law license, but only one in 2,500 teachers lose their credentials due to rules formulated by the union. Besides, a New York “rubber room” where idle teachers awaiting their verdict over misconduct allegations are there for months and some even years while drawing full salaries at an annual cost of $65 million. While using a concealed camera, a student captures teachers going about their business reading newspapers while students gamble in class. Such incompetence put students such as Anthony in a not so good position. Teachers should be aware of their students and their background to formulate the best learning methods that suit them (Heller, 2004). This is the difference between a good teacher and a bad teacher. We are still employing an education system that was meant for the past. Things had significantly changed from the time when students were divided into groups based on their academics into high flying careers such as doctors, skilled personnel such as accountants, industrial workers, and farm workers. For this reason, the public needs to address the deficit in the education sector to better equip the students with necessary skills to deal with the ever-changing environment.
Many American citizens agree on one thing. That an effective and efficient educational system is vital to the maintenance and security of a strong economy, a stable society and more so considering the ever-changing technologies and global sociopolitical competition ( Nichols & Berliner, 2007). The inadequacy of education as well as increased school dropout rates, poor performance in key subjects such as mathematics and sciences impacts academic achievement negatively perpetuating the low socioeconomic status in the community (Weber, 2010). School systems need to be improved by incorporating early intervention practices which may contribute to help in reducing risk factors and therefore the need to increase research on the correlation between the socioeconomic classes and education. The government needs to reform the education system so that the graduates can steer the economy and narrow the gap between different social classes which will ensure that everyone gets a modest or good education. This can be done by:
• Formulating policies that will enable students to be taught to think intensively and critically.
• Ensuring that students are prepared for their desired occupations by ensuring mastery of basic skills such as reading, writing, history, and mathematics are learned by each pupil with the option of offering further specialized knowledge to those who choose more technical careers.
• Promoting civic responsibility and nonviolence.
• Attracting and retaining good teachers.
Even though a multicultural learning environment brings with it a myriad of challenges, we need to work around them and create an effective learning environment for each student. This encompasses the differences in language, learning preferences and social values all are important to the learning environment. If schools develop and adopt a positive, firm, fair and consistent discipline with the backing of democratic conditions, the interaction among students in school can help them achieve the habits of thinking and care for public life (Santrock, 2004). Research has shown that diverse environments increase the levels of critical thinking, knowledge awareness, challenge assumptions as well as raise connection levels and communication (Reardon et al. 2013). Teachers also have a role to play. They should pay attention to the class diversity, appreciate the differences in class and alertness to inequality, stereotypes, disadvantages and the misinformation based on group identities.
It is through our schools that we will be able to influence positively in the society we live (Doerschuk et al., 2016). Teachers ought to dedicate themselves to teaching students. To attain tenure as a teacher is not an easy task and to do so means one is dedicated to their job. It should not be used as a way to drag about doing nothing.
Waiting for Superman documentary shows the ugly side of our education. I think it does not paint the whole picture of it within the one hour and forty minutes of rolling, but it forms a basis of rethinking the relevance of our education system in our current situation and the things we can differently to achieve better results.
In conclusion, the above paper has tackled some of the challenges that individuals face in public school sector in the eyes of Anthony from the documentary ‘Waiting for Superman’ by Davis Guggenheim. Evident is the difference in social class that greatly influences the quality of education a child gets and the challenges that they face from the language barrier, the differences that exist in our ethnicity and culture, the quality of teachers and methods employed by the teachers in teaching. To overcome these challenges needs a mutual understanding of both worlds whether regarding culture, socioeconomic classes and so on. It is important to note the great work that teachers undertake in our society. They assume our children’s responsibility and nature them into respectable young adults. Most children spend a lot of time in school with teachers than with their parents (Hammond, 2003) at home and for this reason they literary mold the kids. The more the feel appreciated, the better the job they will do
Reference
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